The role of EU and US in the war against Kurds

European Court of Justice (ECJ) found EU injustice to put the PKK in the terror list without juridical proofs. But left without reaction from EU, last week the Kurdish movement appealed again to ECJ, accusing EU and US for taking part in war against Kurds

The role of EU and US in the war against Kurds

By Roni Alasor

Brussels, Ararat News (ANP) – Kurdish movement in Turkey (PKK) has been added in EU terror list since 2003 after strong pushing from Turkey and USA. Kurdish politicians and leadership appealed immediately to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which has found EU injustice to put the Kurdish movement in the terror list without concrete juridical proofs. Despite ECJ’s decision, EU still renews the listing of the Kurdish movement in the terror list. Kurds do believe that “some Turkish-US-EU war lobbies earning bloody money from Kurdish-Turkish conflict are still working actively to keep the list”.

Now, Kurdish leaders and organizations are asking EU and US “to put in table all the crimes Kurds are doing in EU: “They have to prove those accusations or they have to respect the values of the democracy and human rights and to stop with the criminalization policy and war against Kurdish people”, saying Kurdish leaders.

Last week, the Kurdish movement and European lawyers appealed again to the European Court of Justice in hope that ECJ can make a new strong decision against EU to stop the criminalisation policy against Kurds. Tamara Buruma, Marq Wijngaarden and Marieke van Eik from the PRAKKEN d`Oliveira International Human Rights Lawyers Bureau in Amsterdam and the Kurdish lawyer Mahmut Şakar held a press conference regarding the appeal.

At the presence of the member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Committee, Kurdish lawyer and former member of the Turkish parliament Zubeyir Aydar, the European human rights lawyers underlined that the EU terror list against Kurds without any juridical proof just creates new problems in the Kurdish-Turkish conflict and hatred against Europe. “It is just a support to the war policy against Kurds”, explained the European lawyers.

Lawyer Marq Wijngaarden said that “For a permanent peace to be achieved in four part of Kurdistan and in all Middle East, the PKK which has millions of supporter must be delisted from the EU list of terrorist organizations. The ban on PKK which has obeyed the international law of war is not based on international laws. It is meaningless and unnecessary to list PKK as a terrorist organization” said the Dutch lawyer.

In an exclusive interview with Ararat News (ANP), leading Kurdish politician, lawyer, human rights fighter and former member of the Turkish parliament Mr. Zubeyir Aydar accused EU and US “to support the criminalization policy, arrests, terror attacks and war against Kurds”.

“Listing of the Kurdish movement in the EU and in US terror list, which is directed from Ankara in accordance with the Turkish dirty policy against Kurdish people, only strengthens the hands of the war lovers in Turkey and weapon sellers who are living in the bloody market. This inhuman policy goes against the peace process” says the Kurdish lawyer and politician Aydar.

But the EU and US declare support for Kurdish-Turkish peace process …

Aydar: Yes, they do, but here is again another double standard. Since March 2013, there is an unofficial mutual ceasefire in Turkey-Kurdistan. The present situation gives at least hopes to Kurds, Turks and all the people living in Turkey. Calmness and dialogue for peace between PKK and the Turkish government continue, despite all the unwillingness of the Turkish government to accelerate the democratization and peace process. Other hand, EU-US declares that they are supporting the peace process. But the same EU and US continue putting the Kurdish movement in terror list, while it is engaged in active peace process. How you can speak about supporting peace process when you are criminalizing one side, arresting Kurdish politicians, journalists and forbidding the Kurdish organizations in EU? How you can talk about peace and democracy when you are actively cooperating in physical and psychological war against Kurds? How you can talk about supporting the peace process while you close your eyes in killing of Kurdish politicians in EU?

Despite having stated dozens of times that they are positive about the process initiated by Öcalan, European Union Foreign Ministers have done nothing in practice. If they truly want to contribute to peace they have to lift the ban on PKK and play a constructive role then stopping the peace process with double games. If PKK didn`t take place in the list of terrorist organizations, the massacre in Paris (09 January 2013 three Kurdish women were been killed) might have not taken place. Tens of Kurdish politicians are under threat because of this listing. Thousands of Kurdish family are living under terror threat and Kurdish children are discriminated in the schools and neighbouring hoods because of this criminal list. Here we have a cruel policy against 25 million Kurds in Turkey under the name of “support of peace process”. EU and US has to stop with this double moral policy, which practically destroys the peace dialogue and helps the Turkish fascists and deep forces for a new bloodshed in Turkey.

Mr. Aydar, What do you mean by saying “contribution of the EU in terror against Kurds lead by Turkish state”?

Aydar: First of all the EU list results a strong criminalization of Kurds in Europe and an active support for those war criminals and war lobbies who wish to continue the war in Turkey. It is against what EU and US are saying on the peace process. On the other hand, the EU terror list also puts the life of Kurds in danger in the EU. EU governments are putting the security of Kurdish politicians and organization to the hands of someone who are self in close cooperation with the Turks who are in war against Kurdish people. Daily, the criminalization against 2 million Kurds in Europe deprives them from their fundamental rights, jobs, schools, family conflicts, because they are followed, listened and threatened. This criminalization’s policy effects also some Kurdish youths to become radical, use illegal methods and creates hatred against EU. All those criminal results are created by EU’s terror list against our people.

Could you please give some examples how the EU is involved ?

Aydar: All is starting with the EU policy which is supporting Turks in the fight against the Kurdish movements. The rest are details. I am not just talking about mutual cooperation in different fields or bloody weapon markets. But to give you a concrete example: The most recent example is the killing of three Kurdish politician women in Paris in 2013, which was also a result of criminalization of the EU’s terror list and active intelligence support from US and Europe to the Turkish secret services, which are directly responsible for the killing. The European services also know well that Turkish intelligent services did not deny their involvement in Paris killing. The organized terror against Kurds in Europe was not only the Paris terror action. Actually several terror attack were planned. But we could avoid some of them in cooperation with some European countries, while others we avoided without European cooperation…

The most interesting here is that some of those actions were also planned as a joint Turkish-Iranian terror action. The intelligent information about Kurdish leaders / activists was given by US and some EU countries to the Turks, and Turks shared this information with Iranian secret services which are responsible for terror actions in abroad. Training was also given by Iranian terror institutions but in one of the actions Turkish pass and ID cards were planned to be used. But to say honestly, some of the serious EU countries also avoided some actions without telling us officially and directly. Having in mind that US pushing some EU countries as “garcon” to cooperate with Turks and taking all information from them and giving to Ankara without respecting those EU countries laws and roles. Many EU countries are telling us how the US intelligent services and politicians operating in their country without respecting even their security services. In September 2012, Mr. Alain Winants, Director of Belgian State Security told openly to media that US and some other countries are not respecting Belgian services and laws when they are operating in Belgium.

But PKK is also accused to be involved in drug trafficking which is used very dirty way against Kurds, what do you have to say ?

Aydar: Its the same stupidity of the criminal accusations against Kurds is the US drugs-narcotics list where again the Kurdish movement is listed, without any juridical proof. We wrote several times to the US Presidents (Bush-Clinton and Obama administrations) that they should put openly in the table whatever Turkish dirty proofs they have in their hands, but they never could prove anything. Because, as the honest people in US administrations are also underlining, there are not any shit which can be used against us. The objective and clever intelligent officers and experts in EU and US know very well that in Turkey many thousands Kurdish politicians have been arrested, but no one has been accused for drug trafficking. There are not such juridical proofs. What US anti narcotics agencies (BNDD / DEA) and Europol has in their hands ? Why they don’t put all juridical proofs in the table ? The US and EU has not any proof for any crime we did it in EU. We are not involved in any kind of illegal activities. Earlier, EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator, Mr. Gilles de Kerchove, European Police Office (EUROPOL) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have told to the media that they have not any juridical proofs that PKK is involved in terror actions in EU or involved in the “drug trafficking” as US and Ankara saying. Now, according the information streaming to our lawyers, Turkey is trying to involve some EU countries in a new dirty game. They are collecting information / pictures that some Kurdish politicians were visiting Federal Kurdistan / Kandil region. Those people / institutions who have nothing else to do than working as enemy against Kurdish people know well how many hundreds of Kurdish, Turkish, European parliamentarians / politicians and media workers are visiting Kandil each year ? Will they also charge all those Kurdish-Turkish parliamentarians and European politicians / journalists?

To come back to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), any decisions from Luxemburg about the list?

Aybar: Earlier, we appealed to the ECJ about the EU criminalization list and we got right that the listing of PKK in the EU’s terror list is not based on any juridical proofs. That is injustice…

But then what are the EU’s reasons and proofs for putting the Kurdish movement in the list? Did you and your organizations have any terror actions or criminal activities in EU countries?

Aydar: First of all we are not accused to do any “violence or terror attacks” in EU. But its just because of Kurdish struggle in Turkey. Let me just explain you a simple but well known dirty example. One of EU’s arguments to put PKK in the terror list was a mine attack against Turkish military. But the Turkish court condemned a Turkish general for the action, who organized self the killing of his own soldiers to put PKK as responsible.

Please could you explain with some concrete details?

Aydar: In May 2009, in Hakkari region in Kurdistan, 7 special Turkish soldiers has been killed and 8 injured after a mine explosion. The attack happened during a cease fire period. The Turkish war criminals and media put the action over PKK. This accusation also became as a reason for the EU terror list. But later a recorded tape-conversation between two Turkish Generals (Hakkari Division Commander Major General Gurbuz Kaya and Çukurca Brigade Commander Brigadier General Zeki Es) show that the Turkish generals self planned the action to put the responsibility over PKK Guerrilla forces HPG as a provocation against the peace process. Later after the investigation by the Turkish prosecutor Yilmaz Kisti from Van region and detailed report from Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory, the Turkish general has been punished and jailed. The Gendarmerie report (nr. 2009/523) dated 02/07/2009 confirmed also that the mines / explosives which were used were from the Turkish state weapon company MKE (Makina ve Kimya Enstitüsü Kurumu). It is a scandal for the EU self to use such “proofs” and base its reasons on des-information reports from so called experts who self need to go to Sontags Schulle and to be little bit ethical for the works they are doing. I am really wondering who are those EU “experts” and reports makers who are poisoning EU institutions with des-information given them by Turkey, but on the other hand EU cannot give any concrete example that PKK did any terror action in Europe. That way Kurds do believe that some EU reporters, so called experts and decisions makers are injustice, they are des-informing EU institutions and are responsible for the results. There are also some police and intelligent agents who are fed by Turks and involved… Kurdish communities / organizations in different EU countries are receiving information that there are some officers from police and intelligent communities (who are working with the Turks) visiting Turkey, receiving gifts and having free holiday in Turkey. This kind of people is very active to play a negative role and misusing their job and position for illegal activities. Their colleagues knows better than us, to not go in details..

Do you think all European police and intelligent services are just working against Kurds in cooperation with Turkey?

Aydar: No, we cannot generalize that. We also have a positive dialogue and contacts with high level intelligent / security communities in many European countries, with local politicians and people who are doing their job according the laws and rules. Those people are very objective, friendly and if they have some questions they are asking directly to the Kurds then just collect des-information from enemies of Kurds. The worst when the reports are made by someone who is living in fear and illegality without having correct / objective information about Kurds. We are supporting fully correct and objective work according the democratic standards and we are ready to support such people and institutions, the only thing we want is objectivism and correct information without to be a part of the conflict of this dirty war.

Mr. Aydar, there are around 2 million Kurds living in EU and your organization has several hundreds of thousand supporters. I have been told by a Kurdish activist that there is mass of information streaming to Kurdish organizations from different sources in EU. How the anti-Kurdish activists are working in EU?

Aydar: I don’t have special information to share with you. I will also not do it even if I have… But I can give you some open examples. Can you imagine that an a foreign “intelligent-service men” based in Brussels who is working in an “analyze institution” (with getting taxpayers money and poisoning EU) told to the Kurds that PKK is Maoist organization and is getting support from China and Russia. This man, according himself, was working over 10 years against PKK and he led a team of over 10 police officers. Each police should have several “Kurdish” agents inside of PKK, again according him… The same man is accused to be MOSSAD agent, but still poisons the EU institutions …

A lady, EU’s reporter on Turkey, who works many years actively against Kurds with writing anti-reports, accused the Kurdish movement in the European Parliament (EP) by saying that the feminist friendly PKK is selling women. When the journalists asked her immediately where did you get your information and why EU and Europol have not such accusations, she explained that she has been told by the Turkish EU Minister Bagis who is now self involved in many scandals in Turkey. On the other hand, we know that there are many honest, objective and ethical people who work in the EU institutions.

How PKK will smuggle weapons from EU to the Kurdish mountains?

In France, it was a “special anti-terror” prosecutors who had Kurds as his main target in many years. He had very good relations with the Turkish state institutions, including the Turkish ambassador in Paris. Under his command were around 30 special police officers who were working against Kurds. He was terrorizing Kurds and arresting them over ten year. The last victim was the Kurdish politician Mr. Adem Uzun, member of Executive Council of Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). Uzun was also involved in the peace talks between Turkish state and Kurdish side. The “famous” prosecutor and his special team used illegal and dirty methods and arrested Mr. Uzun and accused him for “trying” to buy weapons in EU! Imagine that there were not enough weapons in Middle East to buy, and it was very easy for PKK to buy weapons in EU and send “legally” to Middle East (!) and Kurdish mountains. PKK has not ships or flight to bring the weapons in the Kurdish mountains, which have not any sea or airport connections. It was a stupid accusation which France’s high appeal court rejected and freed Mr. Uzun, but he had to stay in jail nearly one year. But later it shows that this prosecutor and some of his team member were involved in the Turkish affairs. Now this prosecutor is removed from his position as anti-terror prosecutors to one other kind of jobs… The French appeal court confirmed that the arrest of Mr. Uzun was illegal, provocative and abusive way to create a crime against the Kurdish politician.

Why all this criminalization? Why all this kind of activity is directed especially against you, Mr. Remzi Kartal and Mr. Adem Uzun ?

Aydar: I, Mr. Kartal, are former member of the Turkish Parliament and President of Kurdish Kongra-Gel and the Kurdish politicians, KNK member Mr. Uzun is the responsible for External / Diplomatic relations of KNK. The aim is to criminalize us so the EU politicians will be carefully with Kurdish leading members. While Turkey is using US and EU in its dirty and bloody war against Kurds, same Turkey self have been seating in many meetings with me and my colleagues who are in the “terror list”. Also in EU, just last one month I have been in meeting with several ministers in the EU countries. Those ministers are respected people who are aware of the dirty games against Kurdish people but at the same time EU left the future of the millions of Kurds in EU to the hand of police and people who have not knowledge on Kurds and conflicts. In other side, we are registering steady increasing sympathy and understanding from honest and objective European police and intelligent services which are really tired from the Turkish state dirty games. The European politicians should not let European democracy and values for human being to be used in a cruel way against oppressed and stateless people.

Mr. Aydar, US and EU said that they have frozen all your money in their bank. What happened with all your money? How much money do you have in the bank now ?

Aydar: I don’t know which bank accounts which are frozen. But I and Mr. Remzi Kartal, as well Mr. Uzun we don’t have even right to have a bank account for the normal daily live.